


Null & Void

by chennieforyourthoughts



Series: Eyeshine & Starshine [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Mentioned Alcohol, Monsters, Witches and Familiars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 08:00:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22163728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chennieforyourthoughts/pseuds/chennieforyourthoughts
Summary: They were somewhat alike, Minseok and Baekhyun, Jongdae guessed—or at least their eyes were. Baekhyun settled across the sky above, vast and dripping with false stars.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Kim Jongdae | Chen/Kim Minseok | Xiumin
Series: Eyeshine & Starshine [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1530122
Comments: 5
Kudos: 27
Collections: WIP OLYMPICS: WINTER 2019/20





	Null & Void

**Author's Note:**

> A small one-shot from the Eyeshine & Starshine series, aka the expanded Genie AU.
> 
> Beta read by the lovely Jess. Written, in a way, for A.

It was amusing, in a way, how a ritual became domestic. It began the same way every time: Minseok cleaned the house, and Jongdae prepared the picnic for three. They checked all the doors and windows, and Minseok fed Tan and gave her instructions for the weekend. Jongdae checked the flashlights, the mirrors, the labradorite. He left the delicate things out on the table for Minseok to wrap and pack into a basket.

Tan climbed her perch and watched her bonded and his partner ready themselves, and wondered what she would ask their friend for when he came. Minseok and Jongdae both gave her small waves when they left, although Minseok always blew her an extra kiss.

The trunk of the car was always full when the items for the Ritual were in it, but to Minseok and Jongdae, it stretched on and on. They left the back seat purposefully clear, and Minseok hung a small piece of labradorite from the rear view mirror. It never hurt to be too cautious at first, after all. They had had some close calls in past years.

It had been many past years. Seven, in fact, and as they began the drive to the south-east, they both wondered how many more years would pass like this. But just because one could wonder did not mean that one could predict, so eventually they both gave up. They talked, small-talk about news Jongdae had heard or charms Minseok had been fiddling with.

They did not really talk about Work, because these were the few weekends per year when they did no work. Jongdae would escape from his designs and Minseok would escape from his made-to-order charms and spell consulting, and together they would perform the biggest spell they did on the semi-regular. It was one they knew well, having done it together many times, but in a way, whenever they left to reach their site for the spell, it felt exactly like the other times.

It took hours to drive to the site, but that was good in a way. Less of a chance for things to go south if, say, a monster became loose…. not that Minseok and Jongdae knew anything about monsters. They’d never seen one before in their lives.

Night had fallen when they arrived at their site. It was theirs because no one else used it that night, and they were always careful to leave it better than they had found it. Together, they carried out the blankets, the basket of food and other provisions, and the mirrors and stones. Minseok directed Jongdae where to place the mirrors, measured out distances carefully, and double checked his calculations with his phone calculator. He had to account for wind, for the stars overhead, even for the air pressure itself, but at least he was a modern witch.

He’d tried bringing Tan once to boost and focus his powers. It had gone about as well as he had feared it might.

Once everything was laid out, they sat and waited. Well, Jongdae sat and waited. Minseok cradled two smaller chunks of labradorite in his palms and relaxed his focus. Tore down his walls until he was able to see past them, and look towards other things—other beings moving out there on the flats, some watching him for a moment, some just passing on. But they were not the one he was looking for, so he moved on, too. Jongdae watched the way his third eye, a cat’s eye, opened and brightened with the same white halo as the full moon, for it no longer scared him.

Minseok saw their one camouflaged against the brightest lights in the area, against the ribbon of the Milky Way. Slowly, slowly, their one oozed his way down to meet them. He had been waiting to be seen.

Jongdae watched as a monster dripped down from the ribbon. He was not the ribbon itself, merely borrowing its light to shawl himself in, but he carried its primordial beauty with him. Baekhyun came to rest between the mirrors, somewhat happily captured light. Minseok opened his eyes and looked upon him, but his third eye remained open, too.

They were somewhat alike, Minseok and Baekhyun, Jongdae guessed—or at least their eyes were. Baekhyun settled across the sky above, vast and dripping with false stars. His eyes did not blink, a blue so hot that it was white. Minseok blinked his human eyes, but his third eye remained open.

“My two lovely humans,” drawled Baekhyun the creature, and Jongdae felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck raise. Baekhyun focused in on him then, all four eyes narrowing as he inspected Jongdae. “You look well.”

Jongdae knew not to speak. Minseok would speak first, because he was the summoner. “Won’t you come and join us?” the witch asked, keeping his voice carefully neutral. It was impossible to be too careful around creatures of the void, even though they knew most of Baekhyun’s quirks and been interacting with him for many years.

Minseok would know of its dangers. He had lost a cousin to it before, and he thought of her short, flaming life every time he gazed upon one of the creatures. But that was their line of work, or—in Minseok and Jongdae’s lives—play.

“You two are so utterly tempting.” Although Minseok kept his expression carefully schooled, Jongdae allowed himself a smile. “I suppose I will.”

The void dripped down onto the blanket in front of them, and the liquid froze into solid. Baekhyun crawled forward, no longer cloaked in night, and Minseok shoved a blanket at him. The creature’s skin was so far beyond icy to the touch that it burned, but he was less of a threat in this form, and more of an enjoyment.

Once he had bundled himself in the blanket, Baekhyun grinned at the pair. “So, what’s up?” Minseok passed him one of the baskets, one containing a bottle of French wine.

“This is what’s up.” Jongdae extended it to him, and Baekhyun fell into the usual routine very quickly. When the creature glanced over at Minseok, he noticed that the witch’s third eye had almost completely vanished back into his skin. It would not return until he and Jongdae saw Baekhyun off at the end of the weekend.

Minseok might have been newly lacking his cat eye, but he did still carry something knowing in his human eyes. “Shall we?”

Baekhyun nodded, and Jongdae nodded, and Minseok pulled out the wine glasses and the cork and let the creature pour the wine.

They set the glasses off to the side, space whirling above their heads—or rather, them whirling through space—like the landscape and Baekhyun whirling before their eyes. The creature was not affected by alcohol like humans were, but Jongdae and Minseok’s intent was not to intoxicate him. It was merely a tribute, an offering to the creature, which always appeased him. “How has Tan been?”

Baekhyun knew that it was only respectful to ask after a witch’s familiar. It did make the witch in question light up, and it was brighter than Minseok’s third eye had been. “She’s been absolutely lovely! She’s been spending most of her time as a cat, and she’s so helpful for work. She can do some of the charms all on her own, now, which really helps prepare for bigger commissions.”

Jongdae huffed and poked Minseok’s arm. “No work,” he scolded, and at the third point of the triangle they made, Baekhyun’s nose scrunched.

“Come on,” said the creature who looked human, “all play.”

It was amusing, in a way, how a ritual became domestic. Because this was as much a ritual as the first summoning was, inked in a rapidly dissolving triangle under the stars. It dissolved because it was becoming something more, and what was above and what was below began to blur.

They slept out under the stars. Minseok and Jongdae buried themselves in blankets, and the witch spoke a spell to keep them warm. Baekhyun lay between them, breaths evened out in sleep on one of the few nights of the year when he let the darkness take over him. He lay, and he did not stir, because even creatures of the void need familiar comforts once in a while.

They woke to the taste of lakebed dust and the feeling of the hard playa surface under their backs. Minseok groaned and rolled over, feeling his spine crack, and when he opened his eyes, Baekhyun was watching him.

The creature was at his least dangerous now, pleased in his skin and craving comfort. “Hey,” Minseok breathed, and Baekhyun gave him a half-smile. Jongdae was still tucked against the creature’s back, fast asleep even though the sun was threatening to begin making mirages against the pale ground in the distance.

“Want something?” Baekhyun teased, and Minseok rolled his eyes. He didn’t reply, but he did pull Baekhyun over for a kiss.

It was much softer than the harsh sunlight upon their skin, the heat of the desert day and the cool of the desert night. “That.”

Jongdae stretched, and when Minseok looked over, he was greeted by the sight of him mid-yawn. He looked somewhat like Tan, Minseok thought, and he missed his familiar less than he always thought he would. It was hard to miss anything when he was surrounded by his partner and their lover, and a creature of the void was tracing lines onto his shoulder. Minseok recognized the symbols, for he knew one of the languages of the darkest, eternal night, and he reminded himself to trace some back when Baekhyun was home with them.

They had gone as close to Baekhyun’s home as they could, an abandoned dry lake in the middle of the night. It was almost time for Baekhyun to travel to their home, too, for if there was one thing creatures always respected, it was parallels.

But at the moment, they were sleepy and lying out under the rising sun, and none of the three would have had it any other way. Jongdae sighed and wrapped his arms around their creature;    
Minseok breathed him in.

Later, they piled all their supplies into the trunk of their car and guided Baekhyun to the back. He always sat in the back, and although he complained about this, he knew it was for the safety of the humans. Although they were lovers, they still only trusted Baekhyun to a point.

The car rolled its way down the highway, visions blending at the bottoms of the dry mountains like the thoughts in Minseok and Jongdae’s minds, and the chunk of labradorite tied to the rearview mirror swung and swung. Baekhyun could tell that they were thinking, could feel it running from them like water, but it was not one of his skills to tell what they were thinking. Although he carried power, he was not psychic.

Baekhyun did not usually think about humans. He was not simple—he was too clever and ancient for that—but most of his thoughts related to other things. Other beings, because although humans were vain and liked to believe that they were the only things out there, there were many others: creatures like Baekhyun, ones of the void and ones of the ashes and ones of the winds; the wandering yōkai; the fiery-souled djinn; the familiars; the various kinds of aliens; and many others Baekhyun knew of but could not immediately name.

The car ride was noisy, as it always was. Jongdae and Baekhyun were an explosive combination in more than one way, but they had always gotten along. Their singing shattered Minseok’s eardrums as he drove back home, but their pitch was correct and their voices powerful. It was odd, Minseok thought, to hear a human and a creature of the darkness everlasting sing together so well, but he did not question it.

Baekhyun was eager to hear the human gossip of the times, and although Minseok had heard most of it already from Jongdae, he was unbothered hearing it twice. “Chanyeol really did that?” The creature had only met a handful of their friends, usually when they came over to make sure Minseok and Jongdae weren’t dead and that there wasn’t a monster running loose through the city creating all kinds of havoc, but it seemed that Chanyeol was Baekhyun’s favorite. Sometimes Jongdae wondered if Baekhyun would ask Chanyeol to join them for a bit, but so far he never had.

“He did that,” said Jongdae, and Baekhyun leaned against the center divider between the two front seats. “That’s him up there, right?”

The pendulum motion of the labradorite ceased as the car stopped and Chanyeol walked over. “Hey, Baekhyun!” he exclaimed, and the creature of the void gave him a very human wave. “I’ll stop by on Monday morning to see that you’re still breathing, right?”

“Right,” agreed Jongdae. “Thanks, Chanyeol.”

“Of course,” Chanyeol grinned. “Have fun!”

The labradorite stayed in the car, but there was more in the house. Baekhyun was not offended by its presence, and was rather flattered that his humans acknowledged his power. He stuck his tongue out and hissed at Tan when they walked by, and the familiar hissed back. That was how they had always greeted each other, and although Minseok could catch hints of the words said, he could never catch everything, and what they said changed every time. It was not the familiar’s usual language, it was something oddly delicate and far more primal.

It sounded dangerously beautiful, however, much as their weekends with Baekhyun were. They spilled ink and false ink, and the gifted two wrote out spells and fragments they’d sometimes complete. Sometimes Baekhyun would take a look around and write a few words, a few symbols, and answer questions Minseok had never known he had. Often, Jongdae and Minseok would not see him do this, and would only find the fragments after. It was a strange system, one based on the fact that the witch and the human were not looking, and that Baekhyun was allowed some of his powers. Some, but not all. The labradorite limited him, but it did not control him.

Time twisted like the twisted stars the sometimes-human creature wore. The weekend seemed to stretch on and on, and Minseok knew that Baekhyun's powers lay in perceptions, so he was not terribly surprised that this seemed to happen every time. Jongdae somehow knew this, too, somewhere deep down in his subconscious, even though he was not gifted. He was just a designer, stuck in the middle between a witch and a being of the eternal night. At least in the night, there are stars, and that is a start.

But still Monday came, as it always did. Chanyeol appeared just after coffee, when Minseok's favorite blend was hanging rich on their tongues. It was on Tan's, too, although he had doctored hers up with plenty of cream. Minseok swore it helped her work better; Jongdae was unconvinced, but was not about to argue with his partner. Chanyeol was careful, almost reverent when he stepped inside, and Baekhyun appreciated that. He was relaxed here because people knew his powers, so he felt no need to use them.

He had to use them enough as it was, and, as always, it became darker when Baekhyun turned away from Jongdae and Minseok's front door and oozed back into the sky. But the sky shone with stars, some real and some false, and when he was gone, they slept better than they had before. Tan was left to watch the stars outside the window alone, the shape of the meteorite piece she had been given warming as she grasped it in her mouth. It was not cold for long, now that the night had been restored.

**Author's Note:**

> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/chenniepenny) and [CuriousCat](https://curiouscat.me/chenniepenny)
> 
> I would love to talk to you (especially about monsters)!


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